November 6, 2016

3rd Time Around With My Topiary Forms

Early this spring I found these topiary metal forms at the garden center and put them in my tall planters out front of the garage.

The primary reason was to help support the "Black and Blue" Salvia (or sage) plants that I put in the planters. The plant gets very tall and tends to flop over. The hummingbirds and bees absolutely love the plant. I plant things that attract the hummers rather than put out a feeder. This picture was later in the summer after it really filled out.

My 2nd use was with this pumpkin stack I created for the inside of the topiary form for the fall season.

A few days ago I discovered the pumpkins were started showing signs of rotting so I had to take them apart before they were mush.

For my 3rd use I got an idea to create a look for the holidays by adding garland to the outside of the topiary frames. I did have some challenges making the garland fit on nicely because of the square and round shape of this wire frame.

Dan and I did some measuring and decided I was going to need needed 12 ft. to go around each form nicely. I kept finding things that were 6 ft. long and pricey. I wanted to do this very inexpensively and when I saw this pre-lit 12 ft. garland I decided it was the way I was going to go with this. I got mine at a place called Menards which is a lot like Home Depot and Lowe's. I saw them at Michael's for $16.99 each so I was pleased to find them at this price. They are made by GE and do come in colors too.

I spent $10.99 each, and as it turned out two garlands for each form looked best so I ended up doubling my initial investment but it was still relatively low priced). Once the wintry weather arrives the snow will cause the garland to want to slide down so I had to secure it in various place with tie wraps. I kept the pine needle straw that was already there to fill in at the bottom.

I looked at tree forms with planter bases at Lowe's and they were $89 and up.

I plugged it in to see how it looks at night. Though it's not perfect I'm pleased with it. I won't be lighting them up until Thanksgiving but I decided to get this done now since our weather will get much colder and wetter soon.

I love how you have changed your forms with each season, Liz. Using them multiple ways is so smart. It's nice you have them ready to just plug in after Thanksgiving. Getting a head start on the holidays is a good idea. ♥

Hi Liz, I showed your stacked pumpkins to my sister and she is going to copy yours but substitute stacked xmas packages for the pumpkins. Such a cute idea and the forms will help keep things from blowing around on windy days. Thanks!!

ABOUT ME

Welcome to Home and Gardening With Liz. I have combined my previous blogs “Infuse With Liz” and “Sit With Me In My Garden” into this new blog. I love interior decorating and gardening. I enjoy redefining interior spaces by moving things around and reusing decorative items already found in the home. I also enjoy creating tablescapes and an occasional crafting project. I'm so pleased you've stopped by. I invite you to follow me and I do hope you will keep coming back!
Liz